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What I’ve Been Watching (Summer 2013 Recap)

I love TV. I love a lot of different kinds of TV and even the TV that I don’t love I understand the existence of. Even in the dead of summer, there’s still a lot more TV around than people sometimes realize. This summer was a pretty good year for some of my favorite summer shows, and will continue to be for another couple of weeks while these shows, and others, finish out their run.

Of course I’m happy to see that’s it’s once again New Series advertising season (every bus in town is plastered with a new Fall show), I’ll be sad to see some of these shows go. Without further ado, a brief rundown of my summer favorites.

King and MaxwellI love TNT shows. They tend to have great, slightly quirky, but always respectable procedural in the works that I’d be happy to watch till the cows came home. This one is no exception. King and Maxwell (one of whom is Rebecca Romijn!) are two former Secret Service Agents turned private investigators after an incident in the service. It’s set in DC, which makes me smile even when they don’t get it quite right.They’ve also got Dichen Lachman who’s fantastic! It’s procedural, with a little bit of serial in there, with a few out there characters, and a bit of a will-they-wont-they thing going on between the two leads. A bunch of my favorite things all mushed together to make sure I tune in every week (Or every other week and a few days late on my DVR, but nonetheless).

Major CrimesKing and Maxwell‘s constant companion, I can’t watch K&M without a side helping of Major Crimes. A friend of mine thinks I’m a middle-aged woman for liking this show, but I don’t even care. It’s corny at times and pretty clearly not aimed towards my age bracket, but I kind of love it. I like seeing a show set in LA, filmed in LA, and referencing the obvious fact that we’re in LA and we’re going to run into some industry people. Maybe not as many as are on the show, but still, it’s fun.Especially fun for me since my school’s classes were on the same studio lot that this show filmed. We would see cast members and crew in passing and one of my classes managed to get a tour of the set.

Risoli and IslesI’ll admit that most of the summer season of this show is still hanging out on my DVR, but I needed to give it a shout out. I’ve been a fan of Sasha Alexandra since her NCIS days, and love seeing her on my screen again. As a lesbian medical examiner from Boston? Why not?Like all the other ME shows (Quincy, Body of Proof), there’s a bit of suspension of disbelief that this exists, but it’s a leap I’ll take. The show is cheeky and fun while still being procedural drama-y. That’s a technical term right there.

The NewsroomBy far the most intellectual of my summer viewing habits, The Newsroom in continuing it’s increasing levels of awesome. This is the show I’m probably most loyal to. I watch new episodes every week the night they air.At first I was wary of the framing device that Sorkin is using for this season, but after a few episodes I’m really okay with the way this is going. There’s a much stronger season arc this year and I’m absolutely in love. I’m also a little terrified that my free trial of HBO is going to cut out before the end of the season, but we’ll deal with that when we get there.

MasterChefOne of my best friends from high school thinks that my love of this show is strange. I am a self-proclaimed drama girl, why am I so gung-ho about a reality show? Well, there are a few reasons. I love food and I love cooking. I love watching people cook and my dad likes all these things too. My dad and I watch this one together, but I’d probably watch it even without him.Following cast members on Twitter makes the show that much more exciting. It’s strange to see them all friends on the internet and in real life, when it’s so clear that at the time of filming they hated each other’s guts. A little disarming actually. And I do wish that they would be more understanding of each other on film, because not everyone knows they’re all good now.The challenges they put on to these contestants through are hard. Going from near-zero to running a five-star restaurant is crazy, but they all handle it so well. It’s a crazy show (and the only one I’ve ever for a minute considered auditioning for), and I love it to bits. Still going on too, so if you’re interested I would be happy to recap who’s who for you so you can watch the last few weeks. Let me know!

Hell’s KitchenI’ll level with you, really, I’ll watch anything where we get to see Gordon Ramsey on camera (not even kidding). Something about his brash style and abruptness is mesmerizing to me. It doesn’t hurt that I love cooking. Love it. Add competition and varying degrees of incompetence in there and I’m with you 100%.This season was a staggering production. As always there were divas and a-holes and a few that I rooted for. While I was kind of rooting for Mary to win it, I would have been fine with any of the top four taking it. Also, since I’m in LA now I keep watching the show and thinking, “Hey, I should go there.” Except for, you know, money.

CampI feel like every summer there’s a new scripted show that takes place at a camp. I’ve seen tons of variations from fat camp to drama camp, and they usually don’t manage to stick around for very long. My personal theory why this one’s doing well? They’re focusing on the counselors and staff of the camp instead of the campers.While this show is NOTHING like the camp that I went to growing up (I went to a christian girls camp), it still manages to bring back memories. I love this show. It’s campy and a little bit awful, but in the best way possible. There are so many characters, anyone is bound to find someone they can connect with. And with sdo many love triangles it might get hard to keep up with later. I don’t know if they’ve been renewed to come back next summer, but I for one would absolutely tune in again.